Gaddafi Human Rights abuses against women, prisoners and political opponents

Gaddafi does not seem to respect that his people are human, much less that they have rights. His regime has a long history of human rights abuses. Libyans have always known. Human Rights organizations have always known. The world public is just starting to get the details of the systemic human rights abuses that have characterized the Gaddafi regime practically from day one. He had certainly showed the raw animal side of his nature within a year of his coup.

It is claimed that 213 prisoners who have been acquitted of their crimes in the Libyan courts are still being held in prison. This number does not include political opponents who have never been charged or charged with crimes against the state. This does not include the numbers who have disappeared.

There are countless women “detained” for what the Gaddafi regime calls “social rehabilitation.” They have not followed the rules. They have not behaved according to the social norms required by Gaddafi. Some women are actually imprisoned because they have been raped.

To be raped in the traditional Arab world can literally be a fate worse than death. The victim is blamed and ostracized. She has brought shame on her family. To actually be jailed seems so barbaric to the Western mind as to not even be possible.

If you are imprisoned in Libya, you are very close to not being human. 1000 prisoners were shot dead at Abu Salim prison in 1996. Torture and abuse is the norm for all those arrested.

To drive home his point that he brooks no opposition, Gaddafi has hung his political opponents on State TV. Hundreds have been executed following failed coup attempts.

In 1980, the Gaddafi regime adopted an official policy of extrajudicial executions of opposition leaders. Musa Kusa, nicknamed “envoy of death,” is reported to have sent assassination squads throughout the world to hunt down opposition leaders living in exile.

Islamic Revival cites a specific human rights abuse in 1978 when Gadaffi ordered retribution against an Islamic delegation that met to discuss with him points of interpretation of the words of the prophet Mohammed. Their objection to his opinions incensed Gaddafi and he supposedly hung 13 members at schools in front of teachers, students and families. One was brought down still alive and hung a second time. Gaddafi’s men then dragged his body behind a car in front of his family and sons.

The UN Security Council and the EU say they could send Gaddafi and his henchmen to the ICC (International Criminal Court) to be held accountable for the crimes against humanity committed during the days of the Free Libya Revolution. Too bad the world has turned a blind eye to his long history of human rights abuses. But better late than never.